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What to do with this signed Dennis Bergkamp shirt?

If you all may remember Mr Admin from Just Arsenal ran a competition to give away a signed Dennis Bergkamp Arsenal shirt as a thankyou when I came out of hospital, and the consensus agreed that we should send it to Ken, who would then give it away to any lucky young Gooner he came across at the Great Ormond Street Hospital.

This is now not going to happen as the Hospital publicity department is refusing to give us permission or even the courtesy of answering my emails.

So now we need new suggestions please. I have suggested the Royal Free and Ken suggested MoorfieldsEye Hospital up City Road. I’m thinking right now that we should be more specific, and simply give it to any deserving young Arsenal fan nominated by our readers. Can anyone think of a young Gooner who has had a hard time and would be happy and proud to receive it?

39 thoughts on “What to do with this signed Dennis Bergkamp shirt?”

Admin and Ken-to day I am dissapointed in GOSH is an understatement.I bet if you were offering to make a donation of money your calls and emails would not have gone unanswered.It seems that it’s only the money that concerns them not the opportunity to give a youngster something that is worth so much more than money.
Good luck in what you are trying to do fella’s

I would back up Phils surprise and disappointment. I have had personal family experience of this great hospital and am perplexed frankly. This mistake on their part shows how apt is the saying that something is only as strong as it’s weakest link. Shame on you GOSH!

JF-my sister ran the London Marathon on behalf of GOSH around 25 years ago and raised around £5k Which was a considerable amount at the time and still is today.The level of support she received for the 12 months leading up to the event from GOSH was incredible,They were checking on her health and fitness and offering tips and advice on what to do and what not to do.After the event when the money was paid -Nothing.They could really do with a PR department or major shake up of the one they have.

Phil, Medically GOSH is without any doubt world class. And then some. But in common with virtually every hospital I have dealt with, which is very many, nearly all are administered by people who , frankly, are not fit for purpose. This is a national scandal and should long ago have been addressed by governments of both sides. But it has not. I will stop here as this is an Arsenal site. But this shows there are many life matters far more important than football, as difficult to believe as sometimes we may all think.

I’m not getting into a racist type of accusation/discussion. It was decided by the readers to give it to a young Arsenal fan in a local hospital. I don’t care whether that kid is white, African or even Kosovon. If he is a local Arsenal fan and he is sick then I just want to give the shirt away!
Jeez I wish I hadn’t bothered sometimes…..
How difficult is it to give away a shirt!

This is one problem you have with an international fanbase and the same on here. All political shades of opinion are present and no one,even you Pat, can ever please all of them. I reckon you now wish you had said nothing about the shirt and just quietly given it away to any young fan you first met. Very hard in these social media tyranny driven days we all HAVE to live in to do any good deed without being acused of having an angle or agenda. I feel sorry for you and know you were only doing what any decent person would. Great shame GOSH were so unhelpful and frankly, stupid.

When charity is in your job description you are not totally charitable. It’s actually supposed to be very lucrative work. I know someone who worked allot of charity events, and were on welfare, so she could give her work her full attention. This woman did not live like she was on the breadline, two cars, lovely home, vacations every summer, and got all sorts of invites with the people she met whilst doing her work. She’s a busy bee, even ran the bingo for a time along with the local parishioner. I know there will be some genuinely giving people involved, all about the giving, but I have yet to meet one like that which I’m one hundred percent sure on. Reason I got to know allot of these people is through the Priest, Priests cannot gamble or seen to be gambling so he used to ask a couple of us would we like to play bingo for him and split the proceeds with himself paying for the tickets/cards. We then got some odd jobs and helped out at numerous functions thanks to the Priest, a really nice man.

amazing gesture by our very own mr.admin.i think this is what sport is all about . kids should come first , always.why not visit your local kids hospital mr.admin and give the shirt to an arsenal fan without any publicity or ceremony. the authorities at the hospital do not have to know anything . you are giving a gift to a sick child , and that should be the end of it . to say i am disappointed with gosch id an understatement.anyways , keep it local i say sir, perhaps you may know of some deserving child personally, or maybe even ask around N5.

Hi Ger,
I am afraid I don’t live in London any more, I am in a retirement mode!
That is why Ken volunteered to do it before he himself had to go away. He personally nominated SUE to take his place wherever the shirt goes so I am very keen to hear her views on this.

So as you say, I am asking if any local fans knowing of any local kids deserve this?

Hi Pat.. who’d have thought it’d be this hard to give the shirt away! I’m quite shocked at GOSH… If money was involved, bet they’d welcome you with open arms!!
I’ll see if there are any children near me that might fit the bill… otherwise did you like the idea of an auction??

I live quite near the John Radcliffe….I could ask if there are any Arsenal fans there. My son had an operation there, in the children’s hospital, there might be one in there 🤞 besides there are gooners everywhere 😊

Are you sure, wandering around a childrens ward or hospital trying to give a present away without official authorisation, in this day and age!
I know it’s a sorry state of affairs, but you are asking for trouble if you do that.

Sorry off topic, this important topic, but got to say I’m really impressed with Torreira in the game at present. He’s all action, tackling well and put the corner over for the second goal. Hoping we get him.

Admin, I think you should probably just send it to the hospital and get them to have one of their nurses give it to an Arsenal fan of her choosing. The nurses will know who supports whom. Just the knowledge that a young Arsenal fan will have a nice memory to look back on, god speed. Toys and stuff get sent to hospitals as well as Christmas gifts, am sure there is some way of donating it through channels. It was such a great idea by Ken and the knowledge of the act is enough for me, the thought that counts and all.

Sue re the shirt-if you ask 10 people what colour to paint a wall you will get 10 different colours
If Ken entrusted you with the shirt then you decide what best to do with it
Whatever you decide is the correct choice

Admin, my grandson (season ticket holder) works at PAPWORTH HEART HOSPITAL, and also has links with Addenbrookes in Cambridge.
He is a physiotherapist and I am sure he would help you to place this wonderful piece of memorabilia.
Do you want me to pursue this from my end?
If so,we can ensure that photographs and any other kind of confirmation is obtained for your personal assurance.

Ken Please!
I am not looking for publicity but it would be nice as long as we all see a pic of a very happy young Arsenal fan. If he can ask around if any young Arsenal fans are there then let’s do it!
Ken suggested going around the ward and simply asking
a- Are you an Arsenal fan?
b- Do you know who Dennis Bergkamp is?
c- What team did he come from in Holland?
If yes yes yes he gets the shirt.
As someone else said not anybody can do this, but a doctor would be perfect to work out who deserves it.

Admin, what I meant was… the knowledge that you have seen the shirt being given to someone rather than not knowing if it had been squirrelled away!!!!
I will contact him again tomorrow and get him to start asking around both sites.
Let you know the outcome as soon as possible.

Hi Guys, just lucky enough to have caught this particular article. I’m sorry we’ve been unable to place the shirt. I’m still out in Thailand and won’t be back until the 6th July. Personally I like the idea of Ken1945, with Ken or Sue presenting the shirt. Another’s idea would be for all our bloggers to write in with a story of an Arsenal youngster who’s had a difficult time and then we decide between ourselves and present him or her with the shirt.

Like to thank all the contributors to this article especially Admin, Jon Fox, Phil, Sue and Ken1945 and everyone else who wrote in with a suggestion I’m sure you all mean well and we’ll get this sorted sooner or later.